


Hero

by Social_Outcast



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Akumatisation, Gen, Help, Hero - Superchick, How Do I Tag, Identity Reveal (Implied), Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Lila is an asshole, Lila salt, Sad, Suicide mentions, be careful friends, inspired by a song, uhhh, with a happy(ish) ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-11
Updated: 2019-08-11
Packaged: 2020-08-19 04:28:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20203732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Social_Outcast/pseuds/Social_Outcast
Summary: Inspired by the song Hero by Superchick- What happens when someone reaches their worst? How do they get there? How can they come back?(Now with second chapter, with resolutions!)





	1. Villains

**Author's Note:**

> Hi friends! This is my first thing published for this fandom, cause I wanted to join in on the Lila Salt! Written and published in three hours, so apologies.  
(A.K.A I wanted to challenge myself to actually publish something, whoops.)
> 
> Inspired by Hero (Red Pill Mix) by Superchick. All song lyrics taken from said song.  
(If you haven't heard Hero, I would totally recommend it). For those who have heard it - Song lyrics picked for those most fitting to what I wrote, but generally, each section based on a verse. 
> 
> I have already written the second chap, so should be up just after this one.

_ No one sits with him, he doesn't fit in_  
But we feel like we do when we make fun of him  
Cause you want to belong, do you go along?  
Cause his pain is the price paid for you to belong 

Marinette sits alone at the table, fiddling with her phone. It is pulled up to the latest of a series of texts. 

**Lila: _How does it feel? Knowing I took everything from you. _**

She slowly raises her head, looking across the canteen to the brunette girl. Their eyes meet. Lila turns away with a hair flick, making a comment to the crowd surrounding her. They all laugh. Marinette sees the eyes cast her way. It is enough to break her. 

Standing up, she leaves her bag and slowly makes her way out of the room, out of the school. Everyone she passes watches her go. No one stops her. 

Slipping in through the back door, Marinette silently makes her way up to her room, the tears falling. Standing in her room, she breathes, each inhale strengthening her pain. Her legs crash to the floor as she surrenders to the feelings. 

“Bully-et. I am Hawkmoth.” 

_______________________________________

_No one talks to her, she feels so alone_  
She's in too much pain to survive on her own  
The hurt she can't handle overflows to a knife  
She writes on her arm wants to give up her life  
Each day she goes on is a day that she's brave  
Fighting the lie that giving up is the way 

Alya watches Marinette leave. She watches the chaos as her best friend comes back, an akuma's victim in the end. She sees the fear on all her classmate’s faces. She sees the smirk on Lila’s. 

In the weeks that follow, Alya shuts down. She doesn’t know how to apologise, so she doesn’t. She sits next to the girl who once was her best friend, as they both silently do their work. When Nino asks her for dates, she always responds with an excuse. Eventually he stops asking. 

One day, Marinette doesn’t make it to class. When Rose asks where the bluenette is, Alya sees the smirk on Lila’s face. She only half-listens to the rest of the class, her head swimming in her thoughts. 

_It's all your fault. You should have known better. Seen sooner. You should just give up. You’ve ruined everything anyway. _

In art that afternoon, her arm brushes a strand in her sleeve as she reaches for the scissors. She winces. Through the window she can see Marinette’s house. Her hand clenches around the blades. 

“Truth Scar. I am Hawkmoth.” 

_______________________________________

_He lives on the edge, he's old enough to decide_  
His brother who wants to be him is just nine  
He can do what he wants because it's his right  
The choices he makes change a nine-year-old's life 

When Chris asks after Alya, Nino just shakes his head. When he sees her at school, he smiles and waves. She ignores him. He stops waving. Then he stops smiling. 

When Chris asks next, Nino’s hands hit the table. 

Lila tells him that his mixes are too old school, that he needs to follow in the styles of XY. Adrien just shrugs. 

Nino starts staying out late, going to dingy clubs in back alleys. They play XY’s music there. He tells himself it helps to inspire him. 

He stops mixing music. 

When he goes to put Chris to bed one night, the younger boy refuses to go. Nino’s hands hit the table in anger. His brother’s hands slam down on the other side of the wood. 

Once Chris is in bed, Nino makes it to his own room, before he breaks down. Fumbling for something, anything, to grip, his hands find a baseball bat. He hugs it close, like a teddy bear. 

“Rage Model. I am Hawkmoth.” 

_______________________________________

_Little mikey d was the one in class_  
Who every day got totally harassed  
This went on for years until he decided  
That ever again would he shed another tear  
So he walked out the door  
Grabbed a 4.4 out of his father's dresser drawer  
And said I can't take life no more  
And like that a life is lost 

Adrien sits still as the make-up artist fusses with his face. He follows limply as he is dragged from pose to pose, stripped and changed between outfits, like a dummy. 

Chloe tells him that he should have refused to wear a certain outfit. Lila agrees. He sits in silence as his classmates pick apart his father’s designs. 

When Adrien asks to go visit Chloe after school, he forgets about a photo shoot that was scheduled. He goes to bed that night with a throbbing cheek. 

The next day, the make-up artist just sighs, and uses concealer. 

Adrien doesn’t wipe the make-up off before school, and sits through Kim’s joking comments about how “girly” he is. By lunch he just needs to get away, get a break. 

Chat Noir stands on the school roof, breathing heavily. 

“Mask, I am Hawkmoth.”

_______________________________________


	2. Hero

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How do you rise back when you have lost everything?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's get to the reconciliation, shall we?

_ You could be a hero - heroes do what's right _

Marinette still isn’t sure how it happens. One minute she’s in her room, full of shame from Lila, the next, she’s standing in the school courtyard, watching Chat Noir chase a black butterfly. The crowd around her is to focused on the hero to notice as she slips away, grabbing her bag from the canteen, and ducking to the toilet. 

“Sorry I’m late, kitty. I was on a field trip. Took a bit to get away.” She lies. 

The yoyo swings up, capturing the akuma. She can still feel the pain and shame, strengthened by the fact she let herself be akumatised. But. Chat risked himself to save her, and succeeded, alone. He doesn’t deserve to go through that again. 

“No problem, My Lady. I managed it all by myself this time!” 

She is stopped on her way back to class, by a voice calling out to her. 

“Marinette!” She turns to meet Luka’s concerned gaze. “They’ll cancel the rest of the day, they always do after an akuma in the school. Do you want to grab a coffee?” 

For the first time, someone listens to her, takes her side. 

When she walks into the canteen the next day, Luka waves her over to join his friends. 

If Lila drops her tray, well, neither Marinette nor Luka were near her at the time, though Allegra was able to film it. 

She laughs for the first time since she can remember. 

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

_You could be a hero - you might save a life_

When Alya comes too again, she is standing next to Ladybug and Chat Noir as the fist-bump. 

Ladybug’s earrings beep. 

“I’ll take her home.” The spotted heroine speaks. “Her school is over for the day anyway.” Chat Noir nods, and jumps away. 

Ladybug takes her back over the rooftops, though Alya knows it is just as common for her to walk the victims home. 

“Do you want to detour past the eiffel tower?” Ladybug speaks as she swings them between buildings. “The view from the top is spectacular.” 

“But - your transformation.” Alya finds herself speaking. 

“I’ll be fine,” the heroine reassures. 

“Okay.” Alya agrees. 

As they land on the top of the tower, Ladybug’s earrings give one last beep, and she is washed in a blinding pink light. Alya covers her eyes desperately. 

“I’m so sorry! I won’t look, I promise!” She squeals. There is a sigh from in front of her, before Ladybug speaks. 

“Alya, look at me. I think we need to have a talk.” 

The next day at school, Alya greets Marinette as she walks through the door. The two of them make their way to their desk, talking a mile a minute. Neither of them take any notice of the crowd around Lila as they pass. 

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\  


_You could be a hero - you could join the fight_

Nino stands on a rooftop, in his pyjamas. On one side of his is an old baseball bat. On the other, Chat Noir. The hero offers him a hand, and swings him off, taking him back home. 

On the way, Chat takes them past the Seine, where he can hear Kitty Section’s music playing out of the lone house-boat. 

The next day at school, Nino is hailed by Marinette when he walks through the door. The bluenette drags him off to talk with Alya. 

At lunch, the three of them join Luka and his friends, following Marinette as she detours the long way around the room. 

When Alya mentions Nino mixes music, Miki demands to hear it. As he pulls out his laptop to find the most recent mix, he bumps against Alya’s leg. She laughs and he blows her a kiss as he sits up. 

A week later, when Miki asks to hire him as the DJ for their party, Nino decides to mix the other student a new track, as a birthday present. 

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\  


_ For what's right, for what's right, for what's right_

Chat Noir stands on a rooftop, confused. This is not the rooftop he was on a minute ago. Ladybug puts a hand on his shoulder, 

“It’s disorienting, Kitty. I know.” She smiles at him, softly. “I need to go grab a cookie for Tikki, but meet me on the Arc in ten minutes?” She offers. Absently, Chat asks, 

“What about school?” Ladybug shrugs. 

“My school usually cancels after a student has been akumatised. I think they have the right idea.” 

“I-I was akumatised?” 

“Yes. But that’s okay.” She hugs him, much to his surprise. “I’m so sorry, Chat. And I’m going to make it right. Just give me ten minutes?” He holds on for a moment longer, before releasing her, and nodding. As she slips away, her earrings beep. 

He is waiting on the Arc de Triomphe, watching the people below, when she arrives. Over one shoulder she carries a bag. 

“I. I don’t know what caused you to be akumatised, Chat, but I do know that part of it is my fault.” She speaks, sitting beside him. 

“My Lady, no-“ he tries to protest, but she holds up a hand. 

“Please, let me finish. This is something I should have done a long time ago.” Then, as if a switch is flipped, her face lifts. “Oh! I brought snacks!” She pulls a box out of the bag and offers it to him. “Macaroon?” Chat takes the box in stunned silence. 

“Chat, I know you haven’t wanted to keep our identities a secret. And I understand that. But I also understand that the guardian thinks it’s best if we keep our identities secret. And when we didn’t know if Hawkmoth would find out our identities for akumatising us, that was a fair argument. But, I’ve known for a while now, that he won’t find out. And if he won’t find out, then it makes more sense for us to know who the other is.” She takes a deep breath, and turns to him. 

“I suppose, the truth of the matter, is that I’m just - just scared. Everyone sees Ladybug as this amazing hero, the saviour of Paris. But under it all, I’m just - just an ordinary girl. And I’m scared that when you see what’s underneath it all, you’ll be disappointed. So I’ve clung to this secrecy, and claimed it was to protect us. But really, it was just to protect me. And that is not fair on you. So I am sorry, Chat.” 

Adrien can feel the tears trickling out from under the mask. No one has ever apologised to him. All his life he has been given instructions, without explanation. No one has ever sat him down and explained why before. 

“I-“ he tries to speak, and has to break off to clear his throat. “Thank you, Ladybug. I understand. I - I have the same fear, sometimes.” He admits. 

The next day, Adrien joins Marinette, Alya and Nino at the table with Luka and his friends. When everyone’s phones ping simultaneously, alerting them to the latest akuma, Marinette and Adrien sneak out of the room together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops, Marinette got carried away at the end there. I just have a lot of feelings, okay? 
> 
> I hope you guys enjoyed my little adventure. This is not a style I've ever really tried before, and I still have no idea what I'm doing, but it was fun for me! Please let me know what you think!

**Author's Note:**

> EhHeHe... I was only gonna do the first four lines for Adrien's bit, but then it had the bit about his father, and I couldn't resist... 
> 
> I'll put more of a note at the end of the next chap, but feel free to leave a comment. Let me know what you thought, or tell me what you think the Akuma names mean, whatever. I'd love to know what you think!


End file.
